Al Jarreau - Jarreau (CD)

All Music Guide

Having broken through into the pop Top Ten albums with producer Jay Graydon and Breakin' Away, Jarreau had found his commercial groove, and it was potent enough to sustain him at least through the eponymously titled followup album. Again, strong, often selfcocomposed material and catchy, radiofriendly arrangements with lots of synthesizers would be the strong suit of this album, frontloaded by two largescale RB hits, the cheery "Mornin'" and footstomping "Boogie Down," that would be part of his concert repertoire forever more ("Save Me" is also in their league). The backing comes from a coterie of L.A. pros who kick in more energy than what one would normally expect; it must be the material that fired 'em up. In other words, this is a really good RB album, almost a great one, with the one caveat being that Jarreau's unique vocal abilities aren't remotely challenged; this could have been conceivably cut by almost any skilled RB singer.

- Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide